


Don't Let a Good Thing Go To Waste

by MaroonCamaro



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Blow Jobs, Fluff and Smut, Hand Jobs, I hate tagging, Kissing, M/M, Rickyl Writers' Group, Rickyl Writers' Group December 2015 Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 13:17:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5498414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaroonCamaro/pseuds/MaroonCamaro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What the hell was Daryl supposed to do with these damn season passes he'd won to the local skating rink? And why the hell does the loser with the beard care if Daryl learns how to skate? But more importantly, why the hell does Daryl care that the loser with the beard cares?</p>
<p>Written for the Rickyl Writer's Group Winter Romance Challenge</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Let a Good Thing Go To Waste

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the lovely and talented [ArchLucie](http://archiveofourown.org/works/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&work_search%5Bquery%5D=archlucie) for giving me the prompt and for betaing for me. 
> 
> This skating rink has a bar, because all skating rinks have bars...right?

Daryl didn’t really want the ice skating passes, he was trying to win a new XBox. Not just any XBox, but a limited edition Kinect Star Wars bundle worth about six hundred bucks. Daryl had no intentions of playing the damn thing, it was gonna go right on Craigslist as soon as he got it in his grubby little hands.

His name was in the drawing, he’d had high hopes of getting it because he was only one of three guys that got all the answers right on the Trek vs. Wars trivia. Of course the radio station thought that they’d only have one guy to get all the questions right instead of three. So they had to draw names for the top three prizes. And Daryl got stuck with the third place prize. Fucking season passes to a damn skating rink. 

He put them up on Craigslist anyway, but got no bites. No one wanted to go ice skating apparently. And hell if he was gonna let them go to waste. They were like a two hundred and fifty dollar value. 

So there he was on a Saturday night, freezing his ass off  _ inside _ , and drinking a beer. He still hadn’t put on the rented skates laying on the floor next to his feet. He figured a couple of beers would help convince him to do it. It did not help that most of the people out there looked like they knew exactly what they were doing sliding around the oval. Some were evening doing jumps and fancy twirly things.

Oh, sure, there were a couple of idiots out there that clearly had no idea what they were doing, but they were all there with dates and maybe they were just trying to look helpless so they wouldn’t have to do it again. Daryl’d learned that trick from Merle long ago, if a chick wanted you to do something and you didn’t, just pretend like you couldn’t figure it out. She’d step in in a heartbeat just so’s she could do it the right way.

A blast of warm air ruffled his hair as the door opened to let another sucker in. He looked like a good ol’ boy with his flannel shirt, blue jeans, and boots. Dressed a little too nice for the shaggy curls and unruly beard though. Maybe new clothes? But no, the jeans were clearly broken in and well cared for. Daryl waited to see who was with good ol’ boy, but no one followed.

The man came prepared with his own skates, sitting down next to Daryl as he pulled off his boots to switch to the skates. Daryl tried to ignore him, but the guy was wearing Old Spice and that was one of Daryl’s favorite colognes, even if it was for old guys. The guy finished tying up his skates before turning to look at Daryl. 

Daryl saluted him with his beer before turning away from the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen. It didn’t help that they guy had laugh lines around those eyes. Daryl focused on one of the girls twirling around the rink. She was wearing jeans that were way too tight for skating, but he guessed she was more interested in showing off for the lovestruck kid following her around.  

“She yours?”

Daryl whipped his head around to the guy who was now standing up, ready to go out on the ice. “No, I don’t know who she is.”

“Ah, ok then. Well, it looks like she has a date, so…”

Daryl glared at the jerk, “You think I’m perving on her? Shit man, she ain’t even my type.”

“Okay, so you just come to....watch?” He asked as he looked over his shoulder at the crowd circling behind them.

“What? No! My brother was supposed to come with me, but he was  _ detained _ , so he couldn’t come. And I’d look like an ass if I did it by myself.”

“I’m going to do it by myself.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you're an ass.” Daryl huffed and jumped to his feet. Fuck this shit. Didn’t need the third degree by some weirdo that didn’t know how to shave. He was out the door as soon as he drained his beer.

**

Rick sat in the parking lot, running his hands up and down the steering wheel. He could do this. He did it last week. Just walk in, put on the skates, and make an hour’s worth of circuits around the ice. No biggie. He hadn’t felt like an ass like the perv had said last time. Just nostalgic. It was the first time he’d come by himself.

His mom had bought him the season pass for his birthday like she did every year, but this time it had only been one instead of two. So it was a little heart breaking coming alone, but he didn’t want to think that his mom had wasted the money, so here he was.

The perv was back again. He had two beers sitting next to him on the bench this time. Rick figured he would have to get the guy’s name and run it to see if he was even allowed at a place like this. If he was a perv and not some pathetic loser like Rick that didn’t have anything better to do on a Saturday night than go to a skating rink.

Perv rolled his eyes when he noticed Rick sitting down to put on his skates. Well, he could just go on rolling his eyes, Rick wasn’t here to rain on his parade. He could give a fuck as long as the guy didn’t do anything Rick would have to call in.

Rick ignored him as he finished tying his skates and made his way to the rink. He waited for a space in the line and then popped out and he was gliding. Not too fast, but faster than the folks there on dates or with their families. He put his hands behind his back and started the sway glide that he loved. No one bothered him and he didn’t have any trouble weaving in and out of the group. 

Rick had been making circuits for about twenty minutes when he noticed perv had made it to one of the spaces in the wall around the rink. He looked unsure as he stood there with one skate on the ice and one on the concrete behind him. Rick took pity on him and slid to a stop next to him.

“You ever done this before?” Rick asked.

“Sure, mom got up and took me to skating practice every morning right after she made me my breakfast of steak and ice cream.”

Rick pursed his lips, “I’ll take that as a ‘no’.” 

“Do I look like a guy who ice skates?” he asked.

Rick tilted his head to the side as he contemplated the man in front of him. He was wearing a pair of jeans that Rick would have put in the donation pile long before they got to the state that they were in, a flannel shirt that had part of the hem hanging ragged, and a leather jacket that looked like it would be more comfortable on the back of a motorcycle than in a skating rink.

Rick’s eyes traveled up to the man’s face, the first time he’d really looked at it, and saw a wispy beard around thin lips, a mole that hung out above those lips, and a pair of piercing blue eyes half hidden in a squint that Rick wasn’t sure was a glare or just the way the guy looked at the world. 

“No, I guess not. Name’s Rick.” Rick held out his hand.

The other guy looked at it for a minute before reaching out a hand to shake, and promptly slipped and fell, pulling Rick with him.

Rick scrambled the best that he could to try and get off the other guy, slipping on the ice the whole time. The guy’s face was beat red, and Rick was sure it was more from embarrassment than exertion. 

“Get the fuck off me!” 

Rick finally managed to roll off him and get to his feet. He bent over and offered his hand, but it got smacked away. So Rick backed up to let the guy figure it out on his own, and that was when he noticed there was a crowd gathering around. No wonder he was so pissed. Probably took every ounce of liquid courage he’d drunk to get this far, and from what he’d said last time, the guy probably wished the floor would swallow him up.

Rick took pity and turned to the crowd to shoo them off. When he looked back, the other guy was already hobbling back to the bench to take his skates off. Rick felt like he had to follow.

“Hey man, sorry about that. Didn’t realize you were strong enough to pull me down like that.” Rick gave his best smile, “Try again?”

“Ain’t going back out there,” he said as he viciously pulled on the shoe strings.   

“No, I uh, didn’t think so.” Rick stuck out his hand again, “Rick.”

His hand was scrutinized for a moment before blue eyes flicked up to his and his hand was grabbed, “Daryl.”

Rick shook hard for the standard three shakes, “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, well, I’m out of here.” Daryl said as he put on his scruffy work boots.

“See you next week?” Rick asked.

Daryl paused in tying a boot, “Yeah. Ain’t got nothing better to do.”

“You know, if you come a bit earlier, it’s dinner time and the place isn’t as packed.”

Daryl nodded his head, “Ok, thanks.” And then he was walking for the door, leaving the skates and three empty beer bottles on the bench.

**

Daryl turned off the engine of his bike. He’d gotten to the rink about four hours earlier than he normally did. That other guy, Rick, had been right. The place was emptying out of the kids that were there earlier in the day. Moms and dads packing up whiny, crying kids and leaving the parking lot nearly bare. He smoked a cigarette before going into the chilly building.

The kid at the rental window gave a start when Daryl stopped in front of the window. At least the little shit didn’t ask for Daryl’s pass again this time. The first time Daryl had come the kid had acted like Daryl had stolen it. And the second time he’d made a big deal about scrutinizing it like it was fake. Maybe Daryl asking to talk to the manager and giving him some shit had cured the little bastard. Hell, he even got the right size boots without asking. 

Daryl then went to his next usual stop, the bar, but no one was there. “Doesn’t open for an hour,” little shit hollered.

Daryl blew out a breath in frustration. He really needed at least two beers to even try and think about going out there. He wasn’t a coward, he just needed a little help convincing himself.  

He stomped to his usual bench and flopped down. At least there wasn’t anyone out on the ice. It looked like they were bringing out that big machine to clean up the ice. Daryl figured he’d have to wait for that thing to be done too. Shit. No beer and no skating. 

He was just contemplating leaving when in walked Rick. Daryl was surprised to see him, he usually came in about halfway through the night crowd and well after Daryl got there. 

Rick smiled when he saw Daryl and made a beeline for the bench where Daryl was sitting. Daryl couldn’t really get a read on the guy. The first night he’d treated him like a perv and the second time he’d acted like a long lost friend. 

“I was hoping you’d be here!” Rick said as he sat next to Daryl, “Now we can work on getting you out on the ice instead of just sitting here watching.”

Daryl motioned to the zamboni, “Can’t.”

Rick looked up and waved a hand dismissively, “Don’t worry about that, he’ll be done in a few minutes. Maybe we can talk about the mechanics of it while we wait.” 

“Okay.” Daryl said as he bit the skin around his thumb nail.

Rick smiled again, he did that a lot, and asked, “So, remember when you were a kid and had rollerblades?”

Daryl just looked at him.

“Oh, well maybe you had roller skates?” Rick tried again.

Daryl thought back to his gift from the church that one year when he was nine or ten. He’d gotten a brand new pair of skates. They had fit great and he got to roll around the house for a few days, holding on to furniture like a toddler learning to walk, before his dad got pissed and told him not to wear them in the house anymore. It was a bit nippy in January to try and skate outside, even in Georgia, so the skates were stuffed under his bed until April. When he pulled them out again to skate around the sidewalks they were almost too tight to use. And after just a week, they really were too tight. Merle had sold them and given Daryl five bucks out of the fifteen he’d sold them for.

“What’s your point?”

“Well, the actions the same. Push off with one foot, glide with the other and switch back and forth. The faster you do it, the faster you go.”

Daryl motioned to the pair by his feet, “What about stopping? Roller skates have that big stopper on the front.”

“I guess that’s the tricky part. You have to turn your foot so that the blade sticks in the ice. I’ll show you when we get out there.” Rick said.

“Were you one of them figure skaters or something?” Daryl asked.

Rick chuckled, “No, I played hockey for a year when I was like nine or ten. But the five am practices were brutal and mom wasn’t a morning person, so yeah, that didn’t last too long.”

“You ‘bout ready to lace up and give it a try? We can work on your balance out here for a bit before we get on the ice.” Rick offered.

Daryl looked longingly at the bar. He could see the bartender setting up for the evening, but the drawer was still open and didn’t have any money in the till yet. “Yeah, okay.”

“Great!”

It took Daryl a few minutes to feel comfortable just standing there not moving. He kept worrying about twisting an ankle or something. But Rick was patient and after explaining how to just relax and let his feet get used to it, Daryl was confident enough to take a few wobbly steps. He would have felt better about it if he hadn’t fallen over into Rick several times. Rick didn’t seem to mind, just caught Daryl and pushed him upright again. 

By the time the bar was officially open, Daryl was able to walk to the bar in the skates. He ordered one for Rick too, to thank him for helping Daryl to not look like an ass. The zamboni was long done, so after their congratulatory beer, they headed for the ice.  

Daryl fell flat on his ass as soon as he pushed away from the wall. But he pushed himself to his feet and tried again, Rick offering encouragement the whole time. They both gave a little cheer as Daryl made a whole loop, holding on to the wall the whole time, without falling on his ass again. 

“Ready for a break?” Rick asked.

Daryl nodded and blew into his hands to warm them. Holding onto that cold wall had really done a number on his hands. They were red and cold. 

“You know, the only thing I asked for Christmas this year was gloves and I got like six pairs. There is no way I can use six pairs of gloves. I think I’ll bring you the pair Aunt Ida got me. I think she bought them in 1982 and put them up for some poor sap to get them. I think they’d go perfect with your jacket.” Rick said.

Daryl glared at Rick, “Don’t need no gloves.” 

Rick just looked pointedly at Daryl’s red fingers before saying, “You’d be doing me a favor. She’s going to ask me why I’m not wearing them and I’d hate to lie and say I lost them. Mainly because I think she has a case of them somewhere and just would give me another pair.”

“Won’t she anyway?” Daryl asked suspiciously. 

“Maybe, but now I can tell her I gave them to a damsel in distress.” Rick said and then laughed when Daryl punched him in the arm.

“See you next week? Same time?” Daryl asked. 

Rick looked like he tried to hold back his smile, but failed. “Yeah. See you then.”

**

Rick got to the rink early the next week. He’d been looking forward to it so much more than he ever had. It could only be because of his new friend Daryl. Rick found he really liked teaching Daryl how to skate. He was a quick study, even if he was a bit gruff and tended to leave in a huff. 

He looked at the brown leather gloves sitting on the seat next to him. He hadn’t lied to Daryl, they really were from his Aunt Ida and they really were ugly, but they were lined with a soft fur and were very warm. Rick had had a feeling that Daryl wouldn’t take charity from him, but he would take them off his hands to do Rick a favor.

Daryl’s bike wasn’t in the parking lot as he went in, but it was already about the time Rick got there, so he knew Daryl would be here soon enough. The pimply faced kid was at the ticket window as usual. He had a Napoleon complex or something because he always made Rick wait a minute before he would take Rick’s pass. This day was no different. 

The kid finally turned around about the time Rick was contemplating hitting him upside the head. Rick handed over his pass like he did every week, but the kid barely looked at it before turning to the register and rung up a new pass.

“That’ll be $12.50,” he said, smiling an oily smile. 

Rick squinted his eyes at the little shit, “I have a pass, remember?” 

“It’s only good for a month, and the month is up. So it’ll be $12.50.”

Rick didn’t even hear the door open behind him as he saw red. He knew the pass was good for this week. It was good for thirty days from when he started using, not just a calendar month. He was just getting ready to show the fine print when he heard Daryl behind him.

“I got it.”

Rick turned to his new friend, “No man. He’s wrong. I still have one more day on this pass.”

“Ain’t worth arguing about it. I got another pass that I don’t use that’s good for the whole season.” Daryl smiled, “Hate to see it go to waste.”

“Yeah, okay then.” Rick conceded with one more sharp look at the little shit.

Daryl produced his two passes, one looking used, the other fresh. They had no more trouble and proceeded to get Darl’s rental skates. They had gotten there late enough that the bar was just opening up, so they both got a bottle before heading to the bench to trade boots for skates.

The zamboni was still on the track, cleaning up from where the kids had been in the morning, so they had some time to kill still. Rick dug in his pocket and pulled out the gloves.

Rick put on his best smile, “Here man. You really are doing me a favor.”

Daryl inspected them with a jaundiced eye before taking them. “I don’t think they match my jacket.”

Rick rolled his eyes, “It’s just for in here. And there ain’t really anyone here to impress.”

Daryl snorted, “No. No one here I want to impress.”

They finished one beer and Daryl had walked to the bar in his skates to get them a second before the machine was done with the ice. They didn’t talk much, just drank their beer and watched the zamboni and the rest of the staff get ready for the date night crowd.

Rick was on his feet as soon as the ice was cleared. He had a lot of nervous energy to burn off and so had made a few rounds before Daryl leisurely finished his beer and followed Rick onto the ice. 

Daryl didn’t wait for Rick to stop next to him, he just slid out like he’d been doing it for much longer than three weeks. Rick held back and watched as Daryl made his way around the ice without holding on to the wall like he had last week, not even falling once.

Rick caught up to Daryl and turned around so that he was skating backwards, turning his head every once in awhile to make sure he didn’t crash. 

“Show off.” Daryl said without venom.

“Want to learn how to skate backwards?” Rick asked.

Daryl sighed, “Can’t I just go in circles for now? I just figured this shit out.”

“Sure. But I figured you’d want to do better than those goofballs that will come in later.” Rick said as he motioned to the ice.

“Well they ain’t here yet. So I ain’t worried about it.”

Rick laughed as he turned and took off down the ice. Daryl didn’t look like he needed Rick to hold his hand anymore. Which was kind of sad, like watching a baby bird leave the nest. They made a few more rounds, Rick doing two for each one that Daryl did, before Daryl tried to speed up and fell flat on his back.

Hurrying back, Rick worried that Daryl would get mad and leave again, but Daryl was laughing. He was trying to hide it, an arm flung over his face, but Rick could see it. He was just relieved that Daryl wasn’t angry enough to leave again. He flung out a hand to help Daryl up and this time it was taken instead of slapped away.

Daryl was hauled up, still a bit unsteady because he was laughing, and fell into Rick. He was able to keep the two of them upright by pulling Daryl close and spreading his legs, Rick completely surrounding Daryl.

The breath seemed to leave Rick’s body in woosh as he realized how their bodies were touching from sternum to hip, and he didn’t mind. Daryl’s smile faltered, but he didn’t move, his eyes met Rick’s for a heart stopping moment before he slowly untangled himself. 

“Think it’s time to go. All those dumbasses will be here any minute.” Daryl said as he turned towards the exit in the wall.

“Yeah, okay.” Rick said as he followed.

They didn’t say anything as they switched back to their boots, Rick to his cowboy boots and Daryl to his work boots. The air around them was different. Like there was a current running from Rick to Daryl. Rick could almost feel it coming from his fingertips as he tied his laces.

They were just walking by the little shit’s window when Rick stopped Daryl, “Hey, you wanna get some dinner or something?”

Before Daryl could answer the little shit pipped up, “Hey, this is a family establishment, none of that gay stuff here.”

Rick’s head whipped around to glare at the kid, “Excuse me?’

The kid stood up and pointed toward the ice, “I saw y’all out there cuddling. We don’t want none of that around here. Runs off business.” 

“We’re just friends, you little shit. And even if we were gay, you can’t do anything about it.” Rick was still pissed at him from earlier and this was just adding fuel to the fire.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave before I have to call the cops.” 

Rick tilted his head to the side and a slow smile spread across his face. He pulled out his wallet and handed his business card to the little shit. 

Eyes widening the kid sputtered, “You’re a cop?”

“Sheriff’s Deputy actually. So you go ahead and make your call. I’ll be making my report on how you discriminated against me and my friend here.” Rick gestured to where Daryl was standing. Except Daryl wasn’t standing there anymore, he was practically running out the door.

Rick gave another mean look at the little shit before running after Daryl, catching up to him as he was getting on his bike. “Hey man, don’t let that kid get to you.”

Daryl looked down and bit his lip before looking up at Rick, “You didn’t tell me you was a cop.”

“I’m not, I’m a Sheriff’s Deputy.”

“Same difference.” Daryl held out the gloves he’d taken off, “Here, take your gloves back. I don’t need ‘em. I got some work gloves that will work the same.”

“Really? You’re pissed because I’m in law enforcement?” Rick asked as he took the gloves back. 

Daryl didn’t say anything as he started his bike and rode away, leaving a bewildered Rick standing there holding a pair of ugly brown gloves.

**

The next week Daryl sat outside the skating rink chewing his lip. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to see Rick or not. On the one hand, he had fun with Rick. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure why he had so much fun with Rick. Daryl never really had any friends before and he wasn’t sure if this was how normal friends were or if it was like what the little shit said and they were gay for each other. Not that there was anything wrong with being gay, just Daryl didn’t think he was. He could appreciate that Rick was attractive and that he was smart and funny. And he was really cool about helping Daryl learn how to skate. But the fact that he was a cop was a bit too much for Daryl.

All the cops he’d ever met had let him down. Either by not hauling their dad in when the neighbors reported him for abusing his kids, or for hauling Merle in for just a dime bag of weed. They seemed to like pulling Daryl over and giving him a hard time too, always looking for drugs in his bike or trying to see if he was under the influence of something. Which neither ever happened. Daryl was careful about his drinking, and he didn’t do drugs.

Rick wasn’t in the rink when Daryl walked in. He lingered by the front counter waiting, but the new kid behind the counter cleared his throat to hurry Daryl along.

“Where’s the other kid?” Daryl asked.

“He uh, got fired I think? Something about calling a cop gay?” 

Daryl smirked as the kid handed back his pass. Served the little shit right. Now Rick and Daryl wouldn’t have to deal with his smug ass anymore. 

Daryl got his skates and then chatted with the bartender while he waited for the bar to open. Rick still wasn’t there, but the zamboni machine was still running, so it wasn’t like they were losing time on the ice. 

Rick still hadn’t shown by the time Daryl had gotten a beer and drunk it. Or when the zamboni was done. Or even when Daryl went out on the ice. In fact, he hadn’t even shown by the time the dumbasses had come in for date night. Daryl had hoped to learn how to skate backwards this week like Rick had offered last time.

Daryl finally gave up on Rick showing and headed off the ice. It was getting crowded anyway, and his hands were cold.  

As he was turning in his skates he noticed on the corkboard by the cash register the card Rick must’ve pulled out of his wallet last week. There was the name Rick Grimes and Kings County Sheriff’s Dept. embossed on it as well as a work number, fax number, and cell number. 

Daryl bit his lip as he looked at the card. He could take it. It was on the corkboard where people put their cards to get business. He looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to him, so he jerked the card off the board before hurrying out the door. 

**

Mondays were for catching up on paperwork, everyone at the sheriff’s office knew that. Which made Rick hate them even more. He absolutely hated being stuck behind a desk all day. If he wanted to do that he would have taken the promotion they’d offered him a year ago, but the thought of not going out on patrol, of meeting people, of helping people, made a knot in his stomach. So he turned it down and in exchange he got to get a random day of the week and Saturdays off. It didn’t help him on Mondays though.

He was just finishing his report on on the noise disturbance from Sunday night. Some idiot blaring Rod Stewart of all things, not even classic Rod Stewart, but the shit from nineties. If you were going to blare music it ought to be good. Like The Stones, or if you liked new music, Jack White. Not fucking Rod Stewart. At least it wasn’t Billy Joel.

His cell phone gave the little beep to indicate he’d gotten a text. Probably the girl from bookkeeping again. She kept badgering Rick for a date. Oh, she didn’t call it a date. No, said she wanted to go out for coffee. The problem was she was married, and there was no way that Rick would be a homewrecker.

Unknown number:  _ Hey. _

Rick:  _  Hey. Can I help you? _

Maybe it wasn’t the girl in bookkeeping, it could be a victim reaching out to him. He gave his card out like candy after all

Unknown number:  _  Thought you were going to teach me to skate backwards. _

Rick:  _ Daryl? _

Unknown number:  _  yeah _

Rick:  _  Thought you was pissed at me. _

Unknown number:  _  I got over it. _

Rick bit his lip as he quickly added Daryl to his contact list. Daryl was holding out an olive branch and Rick had really missed skating on Saturday. He’d even gotten into his car to go, but then he remembered how pissed Daryl was and he was worried it would be awkward.

Daryl:  _  So are you going to be there this Saturday? _

Rick only hesitated a second:  _  Yes _

Daryl didn’t text back. He used as few words in text as he did in speech. Rick was surprised at how much he knew about the guy already. Maybe it was because of the way they just seemed to click. Or maybe it was because Rick really paid attention to the man. He enjoyed the time they’d spent together. Daryl was smart and snarky and surprisingly determined to learn how to skate. Rick suspected by Daryl’s demeanor he’d had a rough childhood, but he didn’t let it get in the way as an adult, didn’t use it as an excuse to be a degenerate. Rick really respected him for that.

He was looking forward to Saturday.

**

Daryl was really looking forward to Saturday. He thought about it all week. About how he would get to tell Rick the little shit got fired. And how Daryl had not fallen once. And that work gloves were not a substitution for warm fur lined leather gloves, no matter how ugly.

He reorganized his tools on Saturday morning to keep his mind off meeting up with Rick later. Or try to. He kept seeing Rick’s easy smile in his mind’s eye. He could hear Rick laughing too. Could see the twinkle in his eye. Could almost feel Rick’s arms around him to help keep him from falling.

Daryl was halfway through his rachet drawer when he stopped with a jerk. Damn, he  _ was  _ gay for Rick. But was Rick gay for Daryl? And was Daryl okay with it? He thought about kissing Rick and didn’t feel the least bit repulsed by the idea. As a matter of fact, the thought of kissing Rick made his heart hammer in his chest. So, he  _ was  _ okay with it, but would  _ Rick  _ be okay with it?

The only way to know was to ask, but Daryl didn’t think he could do it. How do you ask a guy if he’s gay for you anyway?  “Hey, I think I’m gay for you, are you gay for me? Wanna bang?”

No, that didn’t sound right. And Daryl wasn’t sure he was ready to go that far yet anyway. But kissing might be nice. Rick smelled pretty good, so being in that close a proximity wouldn’t be bad.

Daryl dressed with more care than he had since he’d been going to the skating rink. His best pair of Levi’s and a new denim button up. The lady at the store had called it chambray, but it sounded like they used a fancy French word to jack up the price. 

His hair was a mess, it hadn’t been cut since his Aunt Ramona had died. She had a pair of clippers and would shave Daryl’s hair every couple of months or so. He just sighed and pushed it out of his eyes and called it done. Rick had already seen it a mess, what was the point in trying to fix it now. 

Daryl picked up the bottle of cologne Merle had given him last year for Christmas. The blue bottle with the D&G on it hadn’t come in it’s own box and looked like it wasn’t all the way full, so Daryl suspected Merle had stolen it. It didn’t matter, Daryl liked how it smelled, even if he hadn’t used it before. Maybe Rick would like it.

Two sprays later he was ready to go. He hoped Rick would notice the effort. On second thought, maybe he didn’t. He wasn’t sure anymore. Damn he was so confused. 

Rick was waiting outside when Daryl got there, ugly brown gloves in his hands. Daryl smiled at Rick as they matched strides and walked into the rink. It was going to be different this time, more like an actual date because they planned on being here together this time instead of just bumping into each other. 

The new kid eyed Rick up and down when they got to the register, obviously checking him out. Rick looked surprised for a second and then smiled at the new kid. Daryl definitely didn’t like that. He tossed his passes at the kid and put a hand on Rick’s arm. The kid’s eyes flew to Daryl to find a patented Dixon glare pointed in his direction. The kid gulped and took Daryl’s passes to ring them up.

Daryl did not jerk Rick’s arm as they walked away, but it was a close thing. 

“Who was that?” Rick asked.

“Don’t know, but they fired the other kid after his bullshit the other day.” Daryl replied.

Rick smiled big enough that his eyes crinkled at the sides, “I’m glad. Don’t want to have to worry about anybody getting in our business.”

Daryl stopped and looked at Rick, “We got  _ business _ ?”

Rick stared into Daryl’s eyes intently and said, “Don’t we?”

Licking his lips Daryl nodded his head, “Yeah, I guess we do.”

This time when they hit the ice after their customary two beers, they skated side by side. Rick putting a hand out to steady Daryl or Daryl putting out a hand to grab hold of Rick. There was no handholding, but lots of little touches. 

And the first time Daryl skated backwards, Rick was right there to catch him, but he didn’t fall. He did fall the third time he tried. Rick grabbed Daryl’s arm, but Daryl had too much momentum so he pulled Rick down with him, landing in a heap in the middle of the ice. This time Daryl didn’t push Rick away and Rick didn’t scramble to get up so quick. 

Everything else faded away. It was just the two of them there on the ice, staring into each other’s eyes. It was only because someone skated past that Daryl remembered where they were. 

“You wanna get out of here?” Daryl asked.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Rick stood up and pulled Daryl up with him. 

Daryl allowed himself to be pulled into Rick’s arms again, not fighting when their bodies connected from top to bottom. His eyes never left Rick’s.

Rick closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “God, you smell good.”

Daryl thanked Merle in his head for stealing the cologne. “You smell damn good yourself. Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“You want to go get some dinner or something?” Rick asked as they walked out into the parking lot. 

“No. Want you.” Daryl said with all the courage he could muster.

Rick stopped in his tracks and gave Daryl a look that would have melted him into a puddle if such a thing were possible. 

“Sounds good to me.” Rick said in a low growl. “My place?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Daryl was pretty sure they broke every traffic law on the way to Rick’s place. He wasn’t even sure where they were going because he was too worried about hitting someone or something on the way. But Rick didn’t hit anything and got them to his place in one piece.

Rick pulled into a driveway on one side of a ranch that was split down the middle with an apartment on each side. There weren’t too many other houses around that Daryl could see. He turned to ask Rick if he owned the place but never got that far. The look that Rick had given him in the parking lot was back and multiplied to a point that took Daryl’s breath away.

“Want to kiss you,” Rick said in a voice that was all sex.

“Want you to kiss me.” Daryl was more than ready.

Rick unbuckled his seatbelt and practically leaped across the car to crash against Daryl. His lips on Daryl’s and his hands in Daryl’s hair. His body pressing Daryl into the seat.

Daryl managed to undo his own seatbelt and then his hands were in Rick’s hair, pulling him closer. If he had know kissing Rick would be this earth shattering, he would have done it the first time Rick had fallen on him. It was hot and hard and more than Daryl ever knew he wanted in a kiss. 

Rick let one of his hands slide from Daryl’s hair to his neck where he caressed the artery there, feeling Daryl’s increased heart rate. Daryl moaned into the kiss and tried to pull Rick even closer. It probably would have been a good idea to go inside and do this, but there was no way he was stopping now.

The hand on Daryl’s neck slid down his front, feeling out all of his muscles. Rick paused and  pulled away, much to Daryl’s dismay.

His voice was ragged, full of need, “Want to touch you.”

“Want you to touch me.” Daryl said and tried to pull Rick back in to continue their kiss.

“Want to see.”

Daryl swallowed and nodded his head, “You want to go inside?”

“Later,” Rick growled and pulled Daryl around in his seat so that he could have better access.

“Okay then,” Daryl huffed out.

Rick gave a yank and all the pearlized snap buttons on Daryl’s denim shirt flew open. The air on his chest made his nipples harden and Rick growled again at the sight and leaned in and took one in his mouth. 

“Shit!” Daryl cried out at the warm mouth and sharp teeth attacking him. He had never thought his nipples had a straight shot to his dick, but apparently they did, because his dick instantly got hard.

Rick was relentless, sucking and biting and just generally making Daryl see stars. Daryl gave up on holding onto Rick, throwing his arms back where they hit the window with a thunk. Rick’s hands had worked their way down to Daryl’s pants, busily opening them up. Daryl hadn’t know that Rick was so talented as to be able to do that without even looking, he found he could really appreciate that in a man.

Rick worked his hand into Daryl’s opened fly and pulled out the hard cock. Daryl let out a squeak that he would never admit to as Rick stroked him. 

“Holy shit, Rick!” Daryl hadn’t ever had a man touch his dick before and wondered what took him so long to get to here. It was amazing.

Rick’s mouth started working it’s way down Daryl’s torso, clearly aiming for the prize he held in his hand. When Rick licked at the head like a lollipop Daryl hissed out a breath, but when Rick took Daryl into his mouth, Daryl couldn’t contain himself anymore.

“Holy fucking shit!” His hands flew to Rick’s head and his legs jerked restlessly.

Rick’s mouth was warm, hot, almost too hot. His teeth grazed the underside of Daryl’s cock in a way that made it tingle. And the suction, god, Daryl had never felt anything like it in his life.

He was pretty sure he was babbling incoherently about “don’t stop” and “keep doing that” and it wasn’t long before his balls drew up and he was ready to come. He tugged at Rick’s curls not wanting to be rude and come in his mouth, but Rick just sucked harder and that was it, Daryl was coming hard enough that his vision dimmed around the edges.

Daryl looked down just in time to see Rick fucking swallow and if he could have come again he would have.  As it was he mentally stored that image for a cold and lonely night because that was the hottest thing he’d ever seen in his life.

Rick had barely sat up before Daryl pushed him back in his seat and ravaged his mouth. He let his hands roam all over Rick’s body too, and by the way Rick was moaning, it was good. Daryl was delighted to find a thick patch of chest hair when he ran his hands under Rick’s shirt.

Daryl didn’t think he could do as well as Rick did giving a blow job, so he would give the best hand job that he could muster. He pulled back long enough to undo Rick’s pants and released the hard cock straining towards Daryl. It was hefty in Daryl’s hand, not as long as his own, but thicker. And it was hot, so hot.

He spit into his hand and took Rick’s cock in a firm grip. Rick’s head fell back and his eyes closed, exposing his neck to Daryl. Daryl took it as an invitation and attached his mouth to a spot near the juncture of Rick’s shoulder and neck. 

“Holy fuck,” Rick whispered.

Daryl assumed that meant he was doing a good job, but could do better. So he gave a little twist as he got to the top of Rick’s cock. That got the reaction he was hoping for because Rick shouted right in Daryl’s ear not to stop. 

Daryl had no intentions of stopping until Rick came as hard as Daryl just had. He increased the pressure and speed of his hand and added teeth to what he was doing with his mouth.

“Fuck! I’m coming.” Rick said just before Daryl felt the warmth of Rick’s release on his hand. 

He gave a few more strokes before letting go, not wanting to make Rick uncomfortable. Sitting up and back into his own seat he saw that they both still had their dicks out and were panting like they’d just run a mile.

“There’s napkins in the glovebox.” Rick said.

Daryl smirked and met Rick’s eyes before slowly licked his fingers clean. He had no idea where he got the courage to do that, but Rick sure appreciated it by the sound he made when Daryl pulled his fingers from his mouth. 

They sat there looking at each other for a solid five minutes before Rick spoke, “You want to come in and get a beer or something?”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”

**

The bartender watched the two regulars leave the rink. He had a minute because there wasn’t anyone at the bar so he hurried over to the new kid behind the check in register.

“Told you.”

“Damn, that makes me sad too because the one with the curly hair is fucking hot,” he replied.

The bartender shook his head, “Nah man, the other one with the shoulders. I’d do him in a heartbeat.”

“Like you and I have a chance with guys that hot,” the kid said.

“Yeah. But at least they got that little shit fired. Homophobic little fuck.”

The kid chuckled, “Yeah. He was a shit, wasn’t he. Hey, what are you doing after work?”

The bartender looked the kid up and down, “I guess we’ll just have to find out, won’t we?”

And with that he went back to his bar, only turning back once to make sure the kid was looking at his ass.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like it. I have another one that was supposed to be the winter romance, but it wasn't very wintery. But I'll still finish it and post it in a couple of days. Mostly so [TWDObsessive](http://archiveofourown.org/users/TWDObsessive/pseuds/TWDObsessive) doesn't have an aneurysm...teehee.


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